Now the United States Supreme Court will only be a two-thirds sausage fest: The Senate voted, 63-37, to confirm U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan to take Justice John Paul Stevens' seat. When she is officially sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, there will be three women—Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayors are the others— on the Court at the same time for the first time. And all of the women hail from New York!
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said that Kegan has "earned her place at the top of the legal profession," but critics claimed that President Obama was just promoting another activist, progressive. One Democrat voted against Kagan: Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska said, "I have heard concerns from Nebraskans regarding Ms. Kagan, and her lack of a judicial record makes it difficult for me to discount the concerns raised by Nebraskans, or to reach a level of comfort that these concerns are unfounded." (There have been rumors that Nelson might switch parties.)
